Monday, June 16, 2014

So now what?

Digital ads simply have a lot of drawbacks that print didn't. For starters, people either hate or ignore them; the more you try to get their attention, the angrier they get. I assume that whoever invented autoplay video ads is already in some sort of federal witness protection program....Megan McArdle in
Online Journalism Is Suffering Print's Fate

Posted at 08:45:13 PM

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Megan McArdle (and by extension EZ) asks: "So now what?"

You're going to have to go back to charging for content. (I'm already an annual subscriber.)

Do what WSJ does: put the paid content - at least the opinion pieces and blogs - outside the firewall after a week or two.

What really p***es me off is the ads that pop over the requested content. I'm a Digital Plus subscriber, and get no better treatment in that respect than do the hoi polloi freeloaders. It used to be that there would be some place in the ad an "X" that one could click to close it; recently, those have been disappearing. I will never buy anything from anybody who buys one of those ads; Kraphoovian Homes, this means you!

Inevitably, if I leave a browser open on some random site or the Tribune's site, it randomly autoplays an ad when I am in some meeting and everyone thinks I am not paying attention. What, can't I multi-task?

Some sites are just so full of auto-play ads and other junk that sometimes I feel like I am back in the 14.4 modem days. The page just freezes. Very irritating. You know, people have come to expect this. It's like we should be glad we have all these ads. Thank you sir may I have another!. You can't view a video at all anymore on the news sites without first having an ad play first. Sometimes I forget what the video was about and I feel like such a fool for sitting there waiting for the ad to finish. It's getting where I envy those who don't use computers, what a simple life that must be.

The thing about online ads is that they're rarely local -- you buy a newspaper and the ads are for local stores, car dealers, etc. The Trib has gotten better at making the front page ads Chicago-area-ish, but not as you drill down to the articles. Why a crack marketing and sales staff can't convince the folks that place the ads in the paper to place ads on the website is beyond me.

Hey, I hate the autoplay ads as much as any red-blooded member of the Commentariat! They're particularly annoying on a crowded page when I can't even figure out which of the many ads festooned all over the place is barking at me, in order to turn it off. But as far as Digital Plus members (which we are, as well) having to see the ads, just like the unwashed, freeloading masses? How is that any different from subscribing to the paper paper and still having it stuffed with ads? Or paying a ginormous cable bill and still seeing commercials on most of the channels? Or subscribing to PBS and then getting more mail from them during the rest of the year begging for *more* money than one gets from any other source? Not to mention having to put up with the inane pledge programming, just like the freeloaders...

Advertising in print is passive aggressive; it's there if you're interested, but easily ignored. The digital version invades your space and thoughts, interrupting every article, and every click on a link provoking more popups and intrusive sound. It's like have a salesman following you around a store, barging in between you and the merchandise, yelling slogans every few minutes without prompting. What does it say about the Tribune and how it feels about its readers, foisting upon us this rude, non-stop barrage of ads and auto-play videos?

I've been using IE on my two computers. The popup blockers claim to be enabled, but they don't block the ads on the Trib site. I don't use Chrome or Firefox, because other sites that I visit require plugins to view some documents, and Chrome and Firefox don't seem to support them.

I didn't know about Adblock and just installed it for my Chrome browser. So far, it's working great; the ads are gone or blocked. IE is very fickle, sometimes it blocks pop-ups, most of the time it doesn't, so I don't use it much. Just for specific business reasons.

About "Change of Subject."

"Change of Subject" by Chicago Tribune op-ed columnist Eric Zorn contains observations, reports, tips, referrals and tirades, though not necessarily in that order. Links will tend to expire, so seize the day. For an archive of Zorn's latest Tribune columns click here. An explanation of the title of this blog is here. If you have other questions, suggestions or comments, send e-mail to ericzorn at gmail.com.
More about Eric Zorn

Contributing editor Jessica Reynolds is a 2012 graduate of Loyola University Chicago and is the coordinator of the Tribune's editorial board. She can be reached at jreynolds at tribune.com.